Capitalism - A Ship Without a Compass

The socialist case is a clear one but its advancement is held back by incorrect ideas constantly pumped at the workers through the media. Socialism can only be brought about by the working class taking conscious and political action to achieve it. As for reforming capitalism, the Socialist Party recognises that any attempt to smooth the rough edges off capitalism will not only fail in solving any basic social problem but will sidetrack the workers from the real path for their emancipation—Socialism. As long as capitalism lasts there will be a conflict of interests; in other words, war is caused by capitalism and cannot be avoided under that social system. Socialism will abolish war because it will bring a community of interests; it will be a society without frontiers, without nations, without classes, without conflict.

Like it or not, we live in an inter-dependent world in which we either all rise together or fall together. Blaming migrants for the problems and crises produced by a global economy that is a tyrant rather than a servant is no solution. To be a migrant is to be human, and to attack migrants is inhuman.

Migrants are blamed for taking up places in housing and schools, burdening the country's health and welfare system and weakening the working class. Anti-migrant xenophobia has become a recognisable feature of vote-catching politics in Britain and have shaped successive election campaigns. One reason why myths hang around so long seems to be that we like simple explanations – such as that immigrants are to blame for crumbling public services – and are inclined to believe them. Scant attention is paid to how policies of privatisation and austerity -- have led to a degradation of standards of living life and a growth in inequality in the UK. Capitalism will be replaced either by new visions of social progress or by a dystopia of racism and authoritarianism.

The impacts of immigration have not been distributed evenly in Britain. The rich have accrued the economic gains while the poor have faced cut and austerity policies. The burdens on public services of an increasing population have been over-stated but there are some neighbourhoods where strains are real. So too in some sectors of the labour market wages have been kept down through the exploitation of new workforces in Eastern Europe, whether through immigration or capital flight. The problem is not immigration per se but the way it becomes a focal point for deeper processes of dispossession. The culprits are not refugees or Eastern European immigrants but the whims of global capitalism. Scapegoating newcomers is particularly outrageous since economic and trade policies have been a major contributor to their plight. The fundamental problem then, as we see, is not migration but the misallocation and misdistribution of wealth and resources, which is a non-negotiable condition of capitalism. Stopping immigration by setting quotas and implementing ever more stringent border controls and measures is futile. The only way to reduce it is to deal with its underlying causes – namely inequality and poverty, stemming from capitalism.

The party of socialism in this country is the Socialist Party which makes socialism its one and only objective. The Socialist Party understands that only a majority of class-conscious workers can build socialism. It has made its task therefore the advancement of an unadulterated, uncompromising socialist its object. We urge the workers of all countries to organise as a class to gain control of the political machinery in order to establish the socialist commonwealth, where shall arise happiness, comfort, and luxury for all.

Speed the day!